


Crush

by HK44



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Crushes, Embarrassment, Ficlet, First Crush, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 08:46:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12317646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HK44/pseuds/HK44
Summary: Dick paused. “Damian, do you- do you have a crush on Duke?”Damian stiffened, his eyes falling downcast too quick for the lie that stuttered out of his mouth to be believed. “No.” He scoffed and looked at the door way. “Don’t be ridiculous, Grayson.”





	Crush

“Hey Dames.” Dick threw himself up on the counter. “What’s up, Little D?”

Damian spared him a singular glance before mumbling under his breath, “Mgonnamilltute.”

Dick squinted at him. “ _What_?”

Damian grit his teeth and slammed the drawer of utensils shut. “I’m going to kill Duke.”

Dick stared at Damian then slowly pushed his hand on the drawer’s handle before hopping down and skinnying his way in front of Damian and the knives. Not that that would do anything. Damian could probably utilize anything in the kitchen, short of the damn fridge, as a weapon if he wanted to.

But his jaw was clenched tight, discomfort looming in his eyes.

He didn’t want to kill Duke. Not  _really._

Dick glanced up at the ceiling, counted to three then looked down at Damian’s scrunched up face. “Why? Something happen?”

They seemed to be getting along, a lot better than Damian tended to get along with other people but Damian had a short fuse and Duke didn’t let himself take anyone’s shit under any circumstances. Things could’ve gone south while Dick wasn’t paying attention.

Damian grit his teeth harder. “It’s-” He huffed, face turning red. Clearing his throat and crossing his arms, Damian finally let out a short breath. “I believe he’s poisoning me.”

Dick blinked. “ _What?”_

“It’s simple, Grayson. He poisoned me. He must pay.” But the line Damian’s lips had thinned out into hissed a lie.

Dick licked his lips. “What makes you think that?”

Damian’s skin flushed far darker than normal, his feet scuffing the floor. “I- When I am near him, I find myself feeling…  _odd_. And deciphering the feelings of poisons was part of my training and the feeling is similar to that of the Nax root. I have no idea how he would’ve gotten it but he must have and he’s been poisoning me so I will kill him for justice of myself. Now-” Damian gestured weakly at Dick. “Move.”

There were tons of other weapons available at Damian’s disposal. Hell, his damn body was a weapon and he knew it. Skipping over the whole “your family intentionally poisoned you, a small child, as a training method”, Dick grabbed his hair and looked Damian over.

He was stiff, in a way much unlike his normal upright stance. His skin was still flushed, body shifting awkwardly, uncomfortable.

He was on edge.

And he knew he wasn’t being poisoned, otherwise he would’ve said something to Bruce. And, while not completely likely, if he had created an antidote for himself someone would’ve noticed it.

It was something else.

Dick paused. “Damian, do you- do you have a crush on Duke?”

Damian stiffened, his eyes falling downcast too quick for the lie that stuttered out of his mouth to be believed. “ _No_.” He scoffed and looked at the door way. “Don’t be ridiculous, Grayson.”

Dick stared at him. “You have a crush on Duke.”

Damian grit hit teeth again but said nothing. Shame gleamed in his eyes.

It was simple, Dick supposed. It wasn’t Duke. It was the crush itself. What it meant. Damian always held himself to a higher standard, making fun of Tim’s brief and fumbled relationships, Dick’s thing with Babs and Kori, Cass and Stephanie. Even Bruce when he could fathom a sarcastic remark for it.

And here was Damian succumbing to same silliness of emotions he mocked them for.

He was embarrassed.

Dick guessed the League probably had something to do with it too.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You know, crushes aren’t anything to be embarrassed by, Damian.”

“I am not embarrassed,” Damian snapped. “There is no crush to be embarrassed  _by_.” He dropped his arms. “I am far above such  _emotions_ , Grayson.”

“You’re a human being, Damian.” Dick patted Damian’s shoulder. “Crushes have been known to happen.”

“I do not have a crush!”

“Babybrat has a crush?” Tim walked into the kitchen, eyebrow arched and a tellatale smirk on his face. He stopped at the coffee pot. “On who?”

” _No one_ ,” Damian snarled just as Dick wearily said, “Duke.”

Tim whistled low as he pushed in a K-Cup. “No offense but I don’t think Duke goes for toddlers, Damian.”

Damian’s hand shot out for the utensil drawer handle, palming just under Dick’s crotch. Dick slapped his hands away. “I do  _not_  have a crush _,_ Drake.” He rounded back on Dick. “And you-”

“Crushes are perfectly natural, Damian!” Dick repeated, wondering why he even  _asked_  in the first place. He could’ve just come in, made himself a sandwich and pretended like Damian wasn’t even there.

God knew Damian had done the same thing to him thousands of times,

Damian grabbed Dick’s shirt collar and yanked him down, far too intimidating for a thirteen year old boy to ever be. “I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON DUKE!”

“Aw.”

Dick’s heart stopped. Damian’s eyes bulged in front of him. Beside them, Tim spluttered and coughed rapidly over his mug.

In the doorway, Duke was leaning against the wooden frame. A small smile lingered on his mouth.

For a moment, Dick could see why Damian found him worthy of a crush.

“That’s really sweet, Damian,” Duke said as he walked in.

Damian dropped Dick’s collar and shoved him out of the way. The utensil drawer snapped open, a steak knife wielded expertly in Damian’s hand. “I do  _not_  have a crush on you,” Damian insisted weakly.

Duke shrugged, ignoring that statement. “You’re a little bit too young for me, Dames, but-” He pulled out a sharpie from his pocket, grabbing Damian’s non-knife-wielding hand and scribbling his number on it, area code and all, “-feel free to call me in five or six years when you’re  _way_  older.”

Capping the pen, he stuck it back in his pocket, leaning over Damian’s shoulder to grab Tim’s second cup of coffee. Meanwhile, Damian was staring at the numbers on his palm, eyes wide. Leaning back, Duke clapped Damian’s shoulder happily. “I’ve seen your mom. You’re gonna grow up hot. Will definitely want that later, buddy.” He kissed Damian’s cheek softly and turned away. “Let me know if you wanna patrol together tonight!”

For a long second, Damian stared after him.

Then dropped his knife to the ground, keeling over as he leaned into the counter and breathed heavily, one hand to his chest like a man dying. He let out a weak noise, the whole stance of his body, the expression on his face something Dick had never seen before.

Something he found awfully endearing.

A flash went off.

“ _Wow_ ,” Tim said before blowing loudly over his mug. Damian’s head turned slowly to face him as he pocketed his phone away. “Duke must be planning to have really low standards in the future.”

When the steak knife lodged in the cupboard, just inches from hitting Tim smack in the face, and coffee was thrown up into the air, splattering all over the floor, counter, Tim, Damian, and the fridge, with Damian screeching for Tim to give him  _the damn phone_  and Tim yelling  _uncle_  desperately as he struggled to shove Damian off his person, Dick stood slowly to his feet and leaned out the doorway, not ready to lose any limbs over  _this_.

“BRUUUUUUUUUCE!”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I'm still a sucker for this pairing. If you wanna read more DukeDami stuff (of more smooch-worthy proportions), [check out my AU fic!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12120807)
> 
> [Tumblr](http://happyk44.tumblr.com/post/166204592412/hey-dames-dick-threw-himself-up-on-the-counter) || [Insta](https://www.instagram.com/hk44_art/)


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